Chocolate chip cookies can vary so much.
In high school chemistry, we had an extra credit assignment that required us to find a chocolate chip recipe, make them, and bring them in to compare with other students’ results. The differences were amazing! There were crispy, chewy, cakey, and soft cookies – and all from seemingly similar recipes. What a difference baking powder, soda, fats (butter, oil, etc.), and sugars can make.
My favorite chocolate chip cookie is slightly crisp on the exterior with a nice, chewy texture throughout. Semisweet chips. No nuts or oats. Unlike many people, I don’t like them overly chocolatey. Those hard, crunchy store-bought chocolate chip cookies don’t cut it, and neither do the “Soft Batch” (the ones you can often find in vending machines) that have no crispness at all.
While searching Pinterest for some new dinner ideas, I saw a “pin” for “How to Make Perfect M&M Cookies.” Whenever I see “perfect” I have to scan the recipe and photographs to see what might justify the usage of that label. Picky Palate claims that using instant vanilla pudding mix creates chewy, bakery-style cookies. I was intrigued by this and had to try it. Boy, is she right!
This recipe yields two dozen amazingly delicious, chewy chocolate chip cookies. I didn’t use miniature M&Ms, but instead used extra miniature chocolate chips. (They’re so good that I’ve made them twice this week.) With the special pudding mix ingredient, you’ll truly get cookies that have that irresistible, crisp edge with a soft, chewy interior in less than 20 minutes. After demolishing the first batch, we’ve decided that this is the best cookie recipe we’ve found. Thank you, Picky Palate!
Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies (adapted from Picky Palate)
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons instant vanilla pudding mix
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3/4 to 1 cup miniature chocolate chips
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and line a large baking sheet with a silpat liner or parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl cream your butter and sugars until well combined. Add your egg and vanilla mixing to combine. Add your flour, pudding mix, baking soda and salt, stirring to combine. Add chips and stir to combine.
- With a medium cookie scoop, place dough 1 inch apart from each other. Bake for 10-12 minutes until cooked through. Let cool on cookie sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to cooling rack. Enjoy!
Makes 2 dozen cookies
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